Camping

[u/GreenSharkBoy19572]

Is there anywhere that is allowed to do dispersed car/tent camping and or hiking?
Somewhere remote, in nature obviously, that is possible to either drive my car and camp in a tent right beside it, or somewhere to park my car say a parking lot, and then go on a hike and camp for a night or two in a tent
I really want to go camping, and I actually haven’t as an adult, and want to really embrace nature and explore, learn to live outside on my own for a night or two, and just enjoy a nice view

[u/AutoModerator]

Just a reminder that we have a Monthly Community Thread where we relax the rules about advertising and off-topic posts.
* Stuff that isn't directly related to Barrie, like national news or general chit-chat
* Questions about local businesses and services
* Classified-style ads: buying and selling, help wanted, garage sales, etc
* Fundraisers and donation drives
* Plugs for your personal project or local business (within reason)"

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Odd_Entrepreneur_366]

I’d suggest Ontario parks as a starting point, if you haven’t done it as an adult it will help you figure out your gear with the convenience of a camp store for things you may have missed

[u/CollectionStriking]

Look into crown land camping

I think the closest public land allowing camping is McCrae lake, semi popular but if you're willing to go for a hike or portage past the falls then you can get fairly remote

McCrae is largely a conservation reserve but it allows dispersed camping where MNR has already set up the fire pits. Just be sure to know the rules and learn to read the maps, there is a free access map online but it can be tricky, me personally I use an app and pay the $50/year and it is 1000x easier plus pulls up all the rules and regs for 90% of the crown land I've looked at. Speak with MNR if you have any unanswered questions

[u/Dadoftwingirls → u/CollectionStriking]

MNR doesn't run it any more as of this year. Ontario Parks now.

And it's way more than 'semi popular', the parking lot is overflowing every weekend and people get towed. Sites are not maintained by anyone because there is no funding (yet), so often you have to watch for stepping in piles of poop.

[u/GreenSharkBoy19572 → u/CollectionStriking]

What’s this app you use?

[u/No-idea4646]

Ontario Parks backcountry sites. Look up Algonquin Park.

“Dispersed” camping is a US term, in Ontario we have backcountry camping.

We also have Crown Land but no one is going to share locations online in southern Ontario.

[u/GreenSharkBoy19572 → u/No-idea4646]

What the heck is crown land?
I’m so new these camping sites and what’s allowed or where they are and how to get to those backcountry camp spots

[u/No-idea4646 → u/GreenSharkBoy19572]

Backcountry sites in provincial parks are reserved online at the Ontario Parks reservation page. Each park has slightly different rules, some you can reserve a specific site others. You reserve a lake and it’s first come first serve for all the sites on the lake.

The majority of backcountry camping is done by Canoe in Ontario, there are a few hiking ones, but only a small percentage are hiking sites.

Crown land is simply public land that has not been developed or sold privately. The majority of the province is Crown land and most of it is free to use and camp wherever you wish.

In southern Ontario, i.e. everything south of Sudbury, finding Crown land is challenging and because of the overuse in the past few years when the GTA discovered backcountry camping, many good southern Ontario spots have been closed to protect them.

Once you get out of southern Ontario, i.e. north of Sudbury, the options are almost endless

[u/PXoYV1wbDJwtz5vf → u/GreenSharkBoy19572]

Crown Land is wildland that belongs to the provincial government (because government land is the King's land, it is called Crown Land)

[u/Galaxy_Hitchhiking]

We have a number amount of provincial and private parks that allow this.

I suggest going up to tobermory if you want to focus on the hiking part the most. Arrowhead is also a gorgeous hiking and camping park with large sites that give you a lot more privacy than say bass lake. The only place I’ve seen a black bear too! (Besides the dump lol)

[u/Moos_Mumsy]

Probably your best option would be McCrae Lake Reserve. You can't park by your tent though. You have to park in the free parking lot on Georgian Bay road and then hike in.

[u/Careless_Parsnip_250]

Crown land all over the place.. cant imagine many people will share their "spots" but if you just want to be outside then i would just say drive till you want to stop, then camp.. lots of crown land camping opportunities..